Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Civil Disobedience: An Encyclopedic History of Dissidence in the United States, edited by Mary Ellen Snodgrass. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2009. 2 vols. 768 pp. ISBN: 978-0-7656-8127-0. $199.00.

This two-volume set offers readers the opportunity to explore the long history of civil disobedience in the United States, from the breaking of ties with the British Crown, to the formation of the civil rights movement, to the protest against the Iraq War. A quick scan of the topic finder that opens both volumes-- and which chronicles information alphabetically by name, cause, form of protest, historical events, and movements-- could easily act as a springboard into further explorations. Some of the struggles listed include, for example, abortion, apartheid, euthanasia, polygamy, tax resistance and the Vietnam War, while the protests themselves run the gamut from draft card burning to fish-ins, food riots and sit-down strikes. Individual entries in Volume 1 are derived from a variety of sources, such as diaries, interviews and memoirs; citations from personal writings help enhance the historical data. Entries include cross references and suggestions for further reading. Photos, bookplates and portraits accompany the text, while occasional sidebars serve to personalize the issues—we learn that ages of the participants in the Boston Tea Party, for instance, ranged from thirteen to seventy-three, while occupations included cobbler, ropemaker and silversmith. Volume 2 contains a chronology of historical acts of conscience stretching from 1634, when Massachusetts Puritans banished Roger Williams from Salem after he challenged the state church, to 2007 when Cindy Sheehan held a sit-in on Capitol Hill after calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Acts of conscience and civil disobedience are charted by issue and consequence—in 1861, a botanist from Pennsylvania, was scorned after refusing to serve in the Civil War, while in 1989 Margarethe Cammermeyer, a nurse, was ousted from the military for admitting to homosexuality. Volume 2 also provides some regional insight, organizing alphabetically by state the targets of civil disobedience, including polygamy in Arizona and Utah, euthanasia in Michigan, labor strikes in Illinois and the teaching of evolution in Tennessee. A compilation of significant documents illustrates the philosophy of dissent revealed in defiant acts and demands for freedom. Representative documents include John Brown’s address to the court in 1859, the remarks of Susan B. Anthony at her 1873 trial, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s letter from a Birmingham jail and John Lewis’ remembrance of the 1960 Nashville Sit-Ins. A glossary of technical terms provides definitions, applications from history, cross-references to similar terms, antonyms and terms frequently confused with each entry, such as sedition/treason. A biography of primary and secondary resources, as well as a comprehensive index, complete the set. This resource may make an effective supplement to history or government classes. Highly recommended for public and high school libraries.